Rave reviews pour in as TCU hosts USC in first basketball game at new Dickies Arena
Margo Valadie is a proud member of TCU’s “Frog Army” and was among the first students inside Dickies Arena on Friday night.
She had a front-row seat in the student section, soaking in the atmosphere of Fort Worth’s new $540 million arena that hosted its inaugural basketball game between the Horned Frogs and the Pac-12’s USC Trojans.
TCU fell 80-78 in a game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds, but the overarching storyline centered on the state-of-the-art arena.
“This is so nice,” said Valadie, a sophomore from Memphis, Tennessee. “I’ve never been in a brand-new arena before, so I think it’s really cool to be one of the first groups to experience the arena, especially with our basketball team.
“It’s cool to be able to sit close to the actual court and see all the players and action so up close.”
That mindset was shared by many in the announced crowd of 5,656. The venue can seat up to 13,300 for basketball events, which made it a sparse crowd on TV.
But those in attendance included Mayor Betsy Price, several city council members and former TCU star and New Orleans Pelicans forward Kenrich “Kenny Hustle” Williams.
The venue has been widely praised and should be a fan favorite for basketball patrons in the coming years.
Just ask Keith Marcum, the father-in-law of USC coach Andy Enfield.
“It’s really nice,” said Marcum, who drove in from Lawton, Oklahoma, to cheer on the Trojans.
“I’ve been to a lot of arenas, and this is about as good as any of them.”
TCU booster Ed Schollmaier agreed on his first visit to the venue. He had his familiar courtside seat for a TCU basketball game, although at an arena a few miles away from the one on campus that bears his name.
“It’s a nice opportunity to show off the arena to our fans,” said Schollmaier, who was the lead donor for TCU’s basketball arena renovation, which was completed before the 2015-16 season.
Schollmaier went on to say he was excited about the future basketball events coming to the arena, such as the American Athletic Conference championships next spring and the NCAA Tournament in 2022.
On Sunday, Texas and Texas A&M will play in what’s being dubbed as the “Lone Star Showdown” at Dickies Arena.
“I’m a basketball fan,” Schollmaier said, “and I think it’s kind of cool.”
Along with Schollmaier in his familiar seat, Friday night had the feel of a TCU home game, even though it’ll go down as a neutral-site game.
Monty Cook, the voice of Schollmaier Arena, served as the public address announcer for Dickies’ inaugural game. And TCU brought everything from its band to cheerleaders to students.
“I love games at Schollmaier, especially with all the purple. It really makes it feel like home, but this is a nice change of pace,” said Valadie, the TCU student. “Getting the ability to see the arena before a lot of other people do is such a unique experience. A lot of students were interested in it.”
Nothing is definitive as far as how often TCU will play games at Dickies Arena in future years. The hope is to line up more marquee non-conference matchups, such as the USC game, that make sense to play away from “home.”
“I think we’ll play all the games on campus, except for maybe one game a year,” Schollmaier said.
Despite the loss, everyone associated with TCU’s basketball program enjoyed the atmosphere and breaking in the new court.
“The arena is beautiful,” TCU senior guard Desmond Bane said. “The fans were terrific. We really appreciate all the Frog fans who came out and supported us tonight. We hope that they’ll stick with us throughout this year.”
Added coach Jamie Dixon: “I’m disappointed in our loss and what we did for it, but I think it’s unbelievable. It’s an honor to be here for the first game. It’s something that’s going to be great for Fort Worth and for our program, too, because we intend to play here and play better when we do come here going forward.”
Dickies basketball firsts
First points: USC forward Nick Rakocevic’s layup at the 19:00 minute mark of the first half.
First dunk: TCU center Kevin Samuel at the 16:46 mark of the first half.
First 3-pointer: TCU guard Jaire Grayer at the 15:10 mark of the first half.
First foul: Rakocevic at the 14:50 mark of the first half.
First national anthem singer: Holly Beth.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 9:14 PM.
